McConnell Called Garland To Wish Him Well But Refused To Meet With Him

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. takes questions from reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015, following a Senate Republican policy luncheon. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to hold what he called a “perfunctory meeting” with newly named Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Wednesday because the Senate won’t be considering him, according to a statement sent out by his office.

The senator instead reached out to Garland by phone.

“The Leader reiterated his position that the American people will have a voice in this vacancy and that the Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the person the next President nominates,” McConnell’s office said in a statement. “Since the Senate will not be acting on this nomination, he would not be holding a perfunctory meeting, but he wished Judge Garland well.”

The Senate majority leader has led the call not to consider any Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, taking to the Senate floor shortly after Garland’s nomination to say there was no point in “endlessly debating” the issue.

In his statement, McConnell explained his refusal to meet with the judge in person by saying there was no point in subjecting him to “unnecessary political routines orchestrated by the White House.”

The President called on Republican senators to give Garland a “fair hearing” in his nomination announcement speech.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. The batter in the box gets all of his pitches, McConnell. The next batter gets her pitches, too. The American people know this, and think you are behaving very, very badly.

  2. Cowardly behavior.

  3. McConnell to Garland: Hey, we like you, you are almost a Republican. We just don’t like The Black Guy. I need to show him that I am his boss.

  4. That’s funny. I wish McConnell well too.

  5. Hahahahaha! :slight_smile:

    Thanks mp, that’s the best laugh I’ve had thus far today :slight_smile:

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

29 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for jootjoint Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for sysprog Avatar for dweb Avatar for irasdad Avatar for mantan Avatar for johnrm Avatar for geofu54 Avatar for texasswampbuggy Avatar for 538liberal Avatar for brucea Avatar for serendipitoussomnambulist Avatar for indyundecided Avatar for tcempty Avatar for mybeautifulmind Avatar for pshah Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for meta Avatar for chicago11 Avatar for dedwords Avatar for tiowally Avatar for jdmagic

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: